


to those who wait

by Meatball42



Series: Rare Pairs [129]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, MIT Era, Pining, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-10-14 00:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20591402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meatball42/pseuds/Meatball42
Summary: "I'm not gonna jump you the minute you turn 18.""You could have jumped me the minute I turned 16."Rhodey glares over the remote controlled car he's putting together.





	to those who wait

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cathalinaheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cathalinaheart/gifts).

"I'm not gonna jump you the minute you turn 18."

"You could have jumped me the minute I turned 16."

Rhodey glares over the remote controlled car he's putting together.

Tony ignores him, spinning in a circle on the lab chair. He's sitting on it backwards, as usual, and he would look like a kid if it weren't for the goatee he's been so carefully cultivating.

Sensing Rhodey's displeasure, he comes to a stop against the workbench, frowning. "I thought you liked me."

Rhodey closes his eyes and takes a deep breath so that he doesn't glare or roll his eyes. "We've been over this."

"Yeah, I know. I just don't get it."

"When you're my age, you will."

Tony has no compunctions about glaring. "You're only 22. You're not some wise old man. What's it gonna take to get you to admit that you're into me?"

They're coming up on conversational territory that Rhodey has shut down before and will shut down again, if it comes to it. "If I ever date you, it'll be because we're both in a good place for it, not because you're desperate."

"I'm not desperate!"

"That's not what I meant—Tony, come on."

But Tony is already storming out of the lab, anger covering up the hurt that had shown in his eyes momentarily.

Rhodey sits back and sighs, staring at his unfinished assignment. He feels bad about hurting his friend, but privately, he can't help but feel like his point has been proven.

  
Tony's 26th birthday party is one for the books. There are definitely over two hundred people packed into the rooftop hotel bar. The bar area especially is jam-packed full of people living it up on the Stark dime.

Rhodey found a table in a relatively peaceful area early on with a few friends from MIT. He hasn't caught up with them in a while; he's been out-of-country or in training for the last year and a half straight. It's not a bad time, especially the open bar.

Tony finds him before midnight, which is earlier than Rhodey expected. He slips through the crowd and grabs Rhodey's hand, pulling him away from the standing table without so much as a greeting to his fellow alumni. Anyone who was friends with Rhodey was more than familiar with Tony, though, and they just wave him goodbye and laugh.

Tony leads them through the crowd, ignoring the birthday well-wishes and the hands that reach out to pat his shoulders or tug him away. They make it to an elevator and he hits a button two floors down.

"Happy birthday," Rhodey says sincerely.

He saw Tony earlier and said it then, but it's the kind of sentiment that bears repeating, especially since he knows Tony hasn't had much to celebrate recently. His friend has been on what sounds like a months-long inventing binge. Rhodey suspects he's trying to break some kind of patent record. It's all weapons, though, the things Tony creates because it's his job, not because it brings him joy.

Tony doesn't reply, dragging Rhodey out of the elevator when it opens and down the hall. He unlocks a door and they go inside.

Rhodey gets a glimpse of the suite, but only a glimpse, because as soon as the door closes behind him he has Tony plastered to his front, tequila-touched lips against his lips. It's such a shock that he has no problem pushing back immediately, catching Tony's arms with firm hands.

"Are you drunk?"

"No, I just want you."

Rhodey flicks the entryway light on and checks Tony's eyes. They're clear, if annoyed, his pupils reacting quickly to the light. He sighs. "Give me some kind of head's up next time?"

"I've been waiting years for this, you haven't got the memo yet?"

Tony runs his hand up Rhodey's chest, catching on the collar of his shirt. He tugs it aside and leans in. Rhodey feels warm breath and wetness on his neck and he clutches Tony closer instinctively.

"Wait," he makes himself say. Tony groans against his skin and Rhodey's willpower wavers. "I just want to know you're not just..."

Tony detaches from his front and glares up at him. He's grown his last inch or two since he graduated from MIT, but he still has to look up at Rhodey, and it still makes Rhodey feel warm inside.

"I want _you_," Tony says quietly. "I've wanted _you_ since I was fifteen. This isn't about wanting to hook up with someone or getting some notch or whatever you think is happening." He swallows, glancing away. "If you really don't want me, I'm sorry for pushing so hard. I'll stop."

He lets go of Rhodey's shirt and waits.

Rhodey can feel his heart pounding in his chest. He turns off the entryway light. Tony's eyes glint in the remaining light of the room, surprised, and then they close when Rhodey takes his face in his hands and kisses him, slow and deep.

They don't make it back up to the party.


End file.
